1、THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION* 美国联邦通信委员会 R. H. COASE 科斯 University of Virginia 弗吉尼亚大学 I. THE DEVELOPMENT OF GOVERNMENT REGULATION 政府法规的发展 IN THE United States no one may operate a broadcasting station unless he first obtains a license from the Federal Communications Commission. These license
2、s are not issued automatically but are granted or withheld at the discretion of the Commission, which is thus in a position to choose those who shall operate radio and television stations. How did the Commission come to acquire this power? 在美国除非他先获得了联邦通信委员会发的许可证，否则没人可以经营广播电 台。这些许可证不是随意发放的而是要由委员会来决定许
3、可或者扣留，因此委 员会就具有了选择谁可以经营广播和电视台的权力。那么，委员会是怎么得到 这项权力的呢？ About the turn of the century, radio began to be used commercially, mainly for ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship communication.1 This led to various proposals for legislation. Some of these were concerned with the promotion of safety at sea, requirin
4、g the installation of radio equipment on ships, the employment of skilled operators, And the like. Others, and it is these in which we are interested, were designed to bring about government control of the operations of the industry as a whole. 大约在是在本世纪之交，无线电开始被用于商业，主要是船岸和船船之间的 通讯。这导致了各种各样的立法提案。其中一些
5、考虑促进海上安全，要求在床 上安装无线电设备，雇佣有技术的操作员等等。另一些呢，是我们感兴趣的， 整体来说就是为了使政府能控制这一产业的经营。 The reason behind such proposals can be seen from a letter dated March 30, 1910, from the Department of the Navy to the Senate Committee on Commerce, which described, “clearly and succinctly“ according to the Committee, the purp
6、ose of the bill to regulate radio communication which was then under discussion. The Department of the Navy explained that each radio station 我们可以从一封 1910 年 3 月 30 日海军部门写给参议院商业委员会的信中看到 这些提案背后的理由，信中参照了委员会的要求清晰简洁地描述了这项当时正 在讨论中的规范无限电通信议案的目的。海军部解释道， considers itself independent and claims the right to s
7、end forth its electric waves through the ether at any time that it may desire, with the result that there exists in many places a state of chaos. Public business is hindered to the great embarrassment of the Navy Department. Calls of distress from vessels in peril on the sea go unheeded or are drown
8、ed out in the etheric bedlam produced by numerous stations all trying to communicate at once. Mischievous and irresponsible operators seem to take great delight in impersonating other stations and in sending out false calls. It is not putting the case too strongly to state that the situation is into
9、lerable, and is continually growing worse. 每一个无线电站都视自己为独立的并且主张在任何需要的时候发送它们横贯以 太的电波，结果这导致了许多地方的混乱状态。公共的商业被阻碍到让海军部 门十分窘迫的地步。来自海上处于危险境地的船只的悲惨呼救无法被注意到或 者埋没在由无数电台同时通讯所产生的以太的喧嚣中。恶意的和不负责任的操 作者似乎在冒充别的电台和发送错误呼救中感到愉悦。如此严重的情况并没有 得到遏制，还在进一步恶化中。 The letter went on to point out that the Department of the Navy, in
10、 cooperation with other Government departments, has for years sought the enactment of legislation that would bring some sort of order out of the turbulent condition of radio communication, and while it would favor the passage of a law placing all wireless stations under the control of the Government
11、, at the same time recognizes that such a law passed at the present time might not be acceptable to the people of this country.2 这封信继续指出，海军部门与其他政府部门协作多年，寻求通过这项可以给混 乱无线电通讯状况带来一些秩序的立法，并且它将支持通过一项使所有无线电 台处于政府控制之下的法律，同时它也承认在现阶段通过这一法律可能让这个 国家的民众觉得难以接受。 The bill to which this letter referred was passed by
12、the Senate but was not acted upon by the House of Representatives. Toward the end of 1911 the same bill was reintroduced in the Senate. A subcommittee concluded that it “bestowed too great powers upon the departments of Government and gave too great privileges to military and naval stations, while i
13、t did not accurately define the limitations and conditions under which commercial enterprises could be conducted.“8 In consequence, a substitute bill was introduced, and this secured the approval both of the Senate and of the House of Representatives and became law on August 13, 1912. The Act provid
14、ed that anyone operating a radio station must have a license issued by the Secretary of Commerce. + 这项针对信中所指内容的法案在参议院得到通过但是在众议院没有起效。到了 1991 年末同样的法案在参议院再次被提出。一个附属委员会得出结论， “应给 予政府部门最大的权力和给予军事和海军的电台最大的特权，而不用精确定义 商事企业可以执行的限度和条件。 ”结果，一条替代法案被提出了，并且稳当地 得到了参议院和众议院的批准并且在 1912 年 8 月 12 日成为了法律。这一法案 （Act）假设了任何人
15、想要经营无线电台必须要有商务部长颁布的许可证。 +This license would include details of the ownership and location of the station, the wave length or wave lengths authorized for use, the hours for which the station was licensed for work, etc. Regulations, which could be waived by the Secretary of Commerce, required the stat
16、ion to designate a normal wave length (which had to be less than 600 or more than 1,600 meters), but the station could use other wave lengths, provided that they were outside the limits already indicated. Amateurs were not to use a wave length exceeding 200 meters. Various other technical requiremen
17、ts were included in the Act. The main difference between the bill introduced in 1910 and the Act as passed was that specific regulations were set out in the Act, whereas originally power had been given to the Secretary of Commerce to make regulations and to prevent interference to “signals relating
18、to vessels in distress or of naval and military stations by private and commercial stations“; power to make regulations was also given to the President.4 这一许可证将包含所有者和电台位置、波长或者授予实用的波长、电台准许运 作的时数等详细信息。这些可能会被商务部长废除的规章，要求电台指定一种 标准波长（必须小于 600 或大于 1600 米） ，但是如若他们在明示限制的范围外， 电台可以使用其他波长。业余爱好者不许实用超过 200 米的波长。
19、各种各样的 其他技术要求包含在这一法案里。1910 年的提案和已通过的这一法案间主要的 不同是法案里具体规定的设置，尽管最初的权力给了商务部长制定规章和预防 “私人和商业电台对涉及处于困境中的船只或者海军和军事电台的信号”干涉； 制定规章的权力同样授予了总统。 It was not long before attempts were made to change the law. The proposal that the Secretary of Commerce should have power to make regulations was revived. A bill was ev
20、en introduced to create a Post Office monopoly of electrical communications. In 1917 and 1918, bills were introduced which would have given control of the radio industry to the Department of the Navy. Indeed, the 1918 bill was described, quite accurately, by Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Na
21、vy, as one which “would give the Navy Department the ownership, the exclusive ownership, of all wireless communication for commercial purposes.“ Mr. Daniels explained that radio was “the only method of communication which must be dominated by one power to prevent interference + 不久，人们就开始尝试改变这一法律。商务部长
22、应当有权制定规章的建议再次 提出。甚至一项为了创建邮局垄断电子通讯的议案被提出。在 1917 年和 1918 年，本来将由海军部门管制无线电产业的法案被提出。实际上，在 1918 法案 中相当精准地描述道，Josephus Daniels ， “作为一个要把所有商用无线通信所 有权（一种排他性所有权）给海军部”的海军部长，Daniels 先生解释道无线电 是“唯一的为了防止（信号）干扰必须被一种权力支配的通信方式 +The question of interference does not come in at all in the matter of cables or telegraphs
23、 but only in wireless.“ Some members of the House Committee to which Mr. Daniels was giving evidence asked whether it would not be sufficient to regulate the hours of operation and the wave lengths used by radio stations, while leaving them in private hands. But Mr. Daniels was not to be moved from
24、his position: 干扰的问题在电缆或电报业务里根本不存在而只出现在无线电业务里。 ”一些收 到 Daniels 先生证据的众议院议员问道，把无线电留在私人手里，仅规范经营时 间和用于无线电电台的波长会不会还不够。但是 Daniels 先生并不打算离开他的 职位： My judgment is that in this particular method of communication the government ought to have a monopoly, just like it has with the mails-and even more so because ot
25、her people could carry the mails on trains without interference, but they cannot use the air without interference. 我的评价是，在这一特别的通信方式上政府应该拥有像它在邮件上所拥有的甚 至更多的垄断权。因为人们可以在火车上不受干扰的携带邮件，但是他们不能 不受干扰地使用无线电。 Later Mr. Daniels explained: “There are only two methods of operating the wireless: either by the gover
26、nment or for it to license one corporation-there is no other safe or possible method of operating the wireless.“ That led one of the Committee to ask: “That is because of the interference in the ether, is it?“ Mr. Daniels replied: “There is a certain amount of ether, and you cannot divide it up amon
27、g the people as they choose to use it; one hand must control it.“ Later, Commander Hooper, one of Mr. Daniels advisers, told the Committee: 后来 Daniels 先生解释道：“只有两种方法使用无线电：一种是由政府经营，另 一种是批准公司法人经营，再就没有其他安全或合适的经营无线电的方法了。 ” 这使得一位委员会委员要问：“这是因为以太中的干扰，是吗？”Daniels 先生 回答道：“有一定数量以太，并且当人们要使用它时，您不可能在人民中划分 它；必须得出手
28、控制它。 ”后来，负责人 Hooper，Daniels 先生的一位顾问，告 诉委员会： . . . radio, by virtue of the interferences, is a natural monopoly ; either the government must exercise that monopoly by owning the stations, or it must place the ownership of these stations in the hands of one concern and let the government keep out of i
29、t.5 无线电，介于干扰的存在，是一种天然的垄断；政府要么通过拥有电台执行垄 断，要么将这些电台的所有者置于一种考量下的控制并且让政府置身度外。 The Navy in 1918 was in a much stronger position to press its claim than in the period before the 1912 Act. It had controlled the radio industry during the war and, as a result of building stations and the acquisition by purcha
30、se of certain private stations, owned 111 of the 127 existing American commercial shore stations. Nevertheless, the House Committee does not appear to have been convinced by the Navy Departments argument, and no further action was taken on this bill. Nor was this proposal ever to be raised again. Th
31、e emergence of the broadcasting industry was to make it impossible in the future to think of the radio industry solely in terms of point-to-point communication and as a matter largely of concern to the Department of the Navy. 海军在 1918 年发布了它的主张，比 1912 法案（Act）时期处于更加强势的地位。 在战争期间通过建立电台和收购个别私人电台，结海军控制了无线
32、电产业，拥 有了美国当时现有的 127 个商业岸基电台中的 111 个。然而，众议院并没有显 得确信海军部门的论证，也没有在这一议案采取进一步的行动。这一提案从此 没有被再次提起。广播产业的出现使得在未来人们不再考虑无线电产业仅就点 对点通讯方面的问题，也不再将之作为一项海军部门所涉及的事项。 The broadcasting industry came into being in the early 1920s. Some broadcasting stations were operating in 1920 and 1921, but a big increase in the numb
33、er of stations occurred in 1922. On March 1, 1922, there were 60 broad-casting stations in the United States. By November 1, the number was 564.6 Mr. Herbert Hoover, as Secretary of Commerce, was responsible for the administration of the 1912 Act, and he faced the task of preventing the signals of t
34、hese new stations from interfering with each other and with those of existing stations. In February, 1922, Mr. Hoover invited representatives of various government departments and of the radio industry to the first Radio Conference. + 广播产业出现于 1920 年代。一些广播电台在 1920 年和 1921 年已经在经营了， 但是大量的增长出现在 1922 年。在
35、 1922 年 3 月 1 日，美国有 60 家广播电台。 到了 11 月 1 日，这个数量是 564。Herbert Hoover 先生，作为商务部长，负责 执行 1912 法案，他要面对的任务是预防这些新电台信号相互之间以及和现存电 台间的干扰。在 1922 年 2 月，Hoover 先生邀请各个政府部门和无线电产业的 代表参加第一届无线电研讨会。 +The Conference recommended that the powers of the Secretary of Commerce to control the establishment of radio stations sh
36、ould be strengthened and proposed an allocation of wave bands for the various classes of service. Other conferences followed in 1923, 1924, and 1925.7 Bills were introduced in Congress embodying the recommendations of these conferences, but none passed into law. The Secretary of Commerce attempted t
37、o carry out their recommendations by inserting detailed conditions into the licenses. However, his power to regulate radio stations in this way was destroyed by court decisions interpreting the 1912 Act. 这次大会建议商务部长控制无线电台建立的职权应当被加强并且提议对不同级 别服务的波段配给。其他的会议依次在 1923 年，1924 年和 1925 年举行。议案 在国会提出，包含这些会议的建议，
38、但是没有一条通过成为法律。商务部长尝 试通过在许可证上加入详细的条件贯彻他们的建议。然而，他用这种形式规范 无线电台的权力被法庭解释 1912 法案的裁决破坏了。 In 1921, Mr. Hoover declined to renew the license of a telegraph company, the Intercity Radio Company, on the ground that its use of any available wave length would interfere with the signals of other stations. The com
39、pany took legal action, and in February, 1923, a court decision held that the Secretary of Commerce had no discretion to refuse a license.8 This meant, of course, that the Secretary had no control over the number of stations that could be established. However, the wording of the court decision seeme
40、d to imply that the Secretary had power to choose the wave length which a licensee could use.+ 1921 年，Hoover 先生拒绝更新一家电报公司城际无线电公司（Intercity Radio Company）的许可证，鉴于它滥用波长干扰了其他电台的信号。这家公司 采取了法律行动，在 1923 年 2 月，一份法庭判决认为商务部长没有拒绝批准的 自行决定权。这当然意味着，部长无法控制住电台设立的数量。然而，这份法 院判决的措辞似乎暗示了部长没有权力挑选许可证上使用的波长。 +A later deci
41、sion was to deny him even this power. In 1925 the Zenith Radio Corporation was assigned the wave length of 332.4 meters, with hours of operation limited from 10:00 to 12:00 P.M. on Thursday and then only when this period was not wanted by the General Electric Companys Denver station. These terms ind
42、icate the highly restrictive conditions which Mr. Hoover felt himself obliged to impose at this time. Not unnaturally, the Zenith Company was not happy with what was proposed and, in fact, broadcast on wave lengths and at times not allowed by the license. Criminal proceedings were then taken against
43、 the Zenith Company for violation of the 1912 Act.+ 之后的一份判决甚至驳斥了他这一权力。在 1925 年，真立时无线电公司 （Zenith Radio Corporation）被安排使用 332.4 米的波长，经营时间限制为星期 二从下午 10 点到 12 点，而且只有当通用电气公司的丹佛电台不想用这个时段 的时候。这些条款显示了极为苛刻的限制性条件，Hoover 先生觉得他自己是被 迫去强制这样一个时间。很自然地，真立时公司（Zenith Company）对推荐的 事项、广播波长和有时不被许可证允许的情况，事实上不太愉快。因违反了 1912
44、 法案真立时公司被提起刑事诉讼。 + But in a decision rendered in April, 1926, it was held that the Act did not give the Secretary of Commerce power to make regulations and that he was required to issue a license subject only to the regulations in the Act itself.9 As we have seen, these merely required that the wave
45、 length used should be less than 600 or more than 1,600 meters. The decision in the Zenith case appeared in certain respects to be in conflict with that in the Intercity Radio Company case, and the Secretary of Commerce asked the Attorney General for an opinion. His opinion upheld the decision in th
46、e Zenith case.10 + 但是在 1926 年 4 月的一份呈递的判决里，认为 1912 法案没有给予商务部长权 力去制定规章，部长必须服从 1912 法案本身发放许可证。正如我们所看到的， 1912 法案仅仅规定了波长应当小于 600 或大于 1600 米。真立时（Zenith）案的 判决表现出了对于在冲突中的城际无线电公司案的一定敬意，商务部长询问了 美国司法部长的意见。他的意见是支持真立时(Zenith)案的判决。 +This meant that the Secretary of Commerce was compelled to issue licenses to any
47、one who applied, and the licensees were then free to decide on the power of their station, its hours of operation, and the wave length they would use (outside the limits mentioned in the Act). The period which followed has often been described as one of “chaos in broadcasting.“ More than two hundred
48、 stations were established in the next nine months. These stations used whatever power or wave length they wished, while many of the existing stations ceased to observe the conditions which the Secretary of Commerce had inserted in their licenses 这意味着商务部长被迫像所有申请者发放许可证，并且许可证不再约束电台的 功率，电台的经营时间，和他们使用的波
49、长（1912 法案中提到的限制范围之外 的） 。接下来的时期经常被描述为“广播的混乱时代”之一。有超过 200 个电台 在接下来的 9 个月时间里建立。这些电台随心所欲地使用任意功率或波长，而 许多现存的电台停止遵守商务部长已经在他们许可证上加入的条件。 For a number of years Congress had been studying various proposals for regulating radio communication. The Zenith decision added very considerably to the pressure for new legislation. In July, 1926, as a stop-gap measure designed to prevent licensees establishing property rights in frequencies, the two houses of Congress passed a joint resolution providing that no license should be granted for more than ninety days for a broadcasting station or for more than t
